12100 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 950 · 7/23/2018 · 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18...
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 superior court of the state of california county of san F rancisco dewayne J ohnson , Plaintiff, vs . Case N o . CGC-16-550128 M onsanto company , et ai., Defendants. / Proceedings held on Monday, July 23, 2018, Volume 14, Morning Session, before the Honorable Suzanne R. Bolanos, at 9:05 a.m. REPORTED BY: L eslie rockwood rosas , rpr , csr 3462 Job N o . 2965319 a Pages 3070 319 6
Transcript of 12100 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 950 · 7/23/2018 · 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18...
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s u p e r i o r c o u r t o f t h e s t a t e o f c a l i f o r n i a
c o u n t y o f s a n Fr a n c i s c o
d e w a y n e Jo h n s o n ,
Plaintiff,
v s . Case N o . CGC-16-550128
M o n s a n t o c o m p a n y , et ai.,
Defendants./
Proceedings held on Monday, July 23, 2018,
Volume 14, Morning Session, before the Honorable
Suzanne R. Bolanos, at 9:05 a.m.
REPORTED BY:
Le s l i e r o c k w o o d r o s a s , r p r , c s r 3462
Job N o . 2965319a
Pages 3070 319 6
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APPEARANCES :
f o r
f o r
THE PLAINTIFF:
r . b r e n t w i s n e r , e s q .
b a u m , h e d l u n d , a r i s t e i , Go l d m a n pc
12100 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 950
Los Angeles, California 90025
310-207-3233
d a v i d d i c k e n s , e s q .
t h e m i l l e r f i r m , l l c
108 Railroad Avenue
Orange, Virginia 22960
540-672-4224
THE DEFENDANT:
s a n d r a a . e d w a r d s , e s q .
f a r e l l a b r a u n + m a r t e l l l p
235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California 94104
415-954-4400
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APPEARANCES (Continued):
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
g e o r g e c . l o m b a r d i , e s q .
j a m e s m . h i l m e r t , e s q .
w i n s t o n & s t r a w n l l p
35 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60601
312-558-5969
k i r b y t . g r i f f i s , e s q .
H o l l i n g s w o r t h l l p
1350 I Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005
202-898-5800
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i n d e x o f p r o c e e d i n g s
w i t n e s s d i r e c t c r o s s r e d i r e c t r e c r o s s
o p e o f o d i l e 3115 3164
a r a c e l i Jo h n s o n 3165
d e w a y n e l e e Jo h n s o n 3187
e x h i b i t s a d m i t t e d
n u m b e r p a g e
Exhibit 7 3191
Exhibit 12 317 0
Exhibit 24 318 3
Exhibit 3 2E 314 9
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Monday, July 23, 2018
9:05 a.m.
Volume 14
Morning Session
San Francisco, California
Department 504
Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos
p r o c e e d i n g s
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GlO G lO
G lO
G lO
G lO
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(Jury enters courtroom.)
THE COURT: Please be seated, Ladies and
Gentlemen. Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome
back. I apologize for the delay in getting started, but
we are now prepared to resume.
And, Mr. Wisner, you may call your next witness.
MR. WISNER: Thank you, your Honor.
At this time, the plaintiffs call Dr. Ope
Ofodile to the stand.
o p e o f o d i l e ,
having been first duly sworn, was examined
and testified as follows:
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THE CLERK: Would you please state and spell
your name for the record.
THE WITNESS: My name is Dr. Ope Ofodlle. Ope
Is spelled O-P-E. Ofodile is spelled O-F-O-D-I-L-E.
THE COURT: Thank you. You may proceed,
M r . Wisner.
d i r e c t e x a m i n a t i o n
BY MR. WISNER:
Q. Good morning, Doctor. H o w are you?
A. Good morning. Doing well.
Q. I hope you had a good weekend. I hope everyone
else in the jury had a good weekend.
I ’d like to talk to you a little bit about your
relationship with this case. But before we do that, do
you know Mr. Johnson?
A. I do.
Q. Ho w do you know him?
A. Mr. Johnson was my patient while I was working
at Kaiser from the end of 2014 until I left Kaiser around
middle of 2016.
Q. And what were you treating Mr. Johnson for
during that several year period?
A. So I ’m a dermatologist, and I was treating him
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for cutaneous T-cell carcinoma.
MR. WISNER: Permission to publish a slide from
Mr. Lombardi’s opening?
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: N o objection.
THE COURT: Very well.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: Doctor, this was a slide that
Monsanto’s attorney presented to the jury in opening
statements, and it says, "These are Mr. Johnson’s
treating doctors." Are you on that slide?
A. I am not.
Q. Did you play a significant role in the treatment
of Mr. Johnson?
A. I did. I was Mr. Johnson’s primary
dermatologist. I was the one that made the referral to
Dr. Kim and Dr. Hope at Stanford. And I also referred
his care to Dr. Truong, who is also at Kaiser. I ’m not
familiar with Dr. Pincus at UCSF, but I know she dealt
with some of his initial slides. But I was the primary
coordinator of all of Mr. Johnson’s care, and if there
were treatments or something that I felt were, kind of,
out of my scope, I then made the referral to the
following physicians.
Q. Thank you, Doctor.
L e t ’s talk about your background and education.
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Did you go to college?
A. I did.
Q. Where'd you go to?
A. Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Q. What'd you study there?
A. I studied biological sciences.
Q. And at some point I assume you went to medical
school?
A. I did.
Q. Where'd you go to medical school?
A. I went to medical school at Duke University.
Q. And I understand you also got a master's degree;
is that right?
A. I did. I got my master's in public health and
had that at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Q. So you're somewhere in between a Blue Devil and
a Tar Heel; is that right?
A. Probably more Blue Devil, but, yes, somewhere in
between.
Q. I won't tell Dr. Portier about that.
A. Okay.
Q. Well, Doctor, let's talk a little bit about what
you did after med school. What's the — what's the
process of becoming a dermatologist? What's the next
step?
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A. Yeah, so after completing four years of medical
school, you do one year of general Internship, and that's
where you, kind of, learn — usually it's in internal
medicine, so you, kind of, learn about general medical
care. And then following that one year of internship,
you do three years of dermatology residency, and that's
where you focus primarily only on dermatology. So I did
my dermatology residency at the University of Washington
in Seattle, and I did my internship at the Mount Sinai in
New York.
Q. And then at some point, did you start working
for Kaiser here in San Francisco?
A. Correct, yes. So once I completed my residency
in 2014, I joined the Kaiser group in Vallejo,
California. And that's how I came in contact with
M r . Johnson.
Q. And are there any board certifications involved
in becoming a dermatologist?
A. Yes, there is. You can be board certified in
dermatology, which I am, and I'm also a fellow of the
American Academy of Dermatology.
Q. Now, you mentioned you had a master's degree in
public health; is that right?
A. Correct.
Q. Did that master’s degree involve looking at
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epidemiology?
A. It did. It was a master's program that I had
that was specific for clinicians. So what it really
focused on was giving u s a more in-depth way of how to
review the literature. You know, most of what we
practice is evidence-based medicine, so knowing how to
take that evidence, review it and apply it to clinical
care.
Q. And is that something that you apply in your
practice?
A. Yeah. I mean, you know, I -- I often review
journal articles for, kind of, new changes in the
standard of care or new developments in different aspects
of what I'm taking care of. And it's important to kind
of know what is -- you know, how a study is constructed,
what the power of the study means and how to best
interpret what the results the study's showing. So it's
one that I use on a daily basis and one that I also use
to explain to patients in terms of how to interpret
certain research articles.
Q. So it would be fair to say, then, that you look
at these journal articles and try to incorporate them
into your clinical practice; is that right?
A. Yes, for sure.
Q. Now, you're not an oncologist; right?
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A. I ’m n o t . I am a dermatologist.
Q. So then how is it that you could be the primary
care physician for Mr. Johnson in his — in his mycosis
fungoide s ?
A. So generally, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is one
that dermatologists are primarily responsible for taking
care of. You know, most patients with cutaneous T-cell
lymphoma, i t ’s not considered a high grade malignancy. I
have several patients that I take care of with this, and
most of the time we treat them with narrow band UVB
treatment or even with just topical treatments.
So dermatology is probably the entry point where
most of these patients come into. We often make the
diagnosis, and oftentimes, we take care of them
primarily. It’s only in select cases in which the
disease is more advanced that we then, kind of, recruit
the help of our, you know, oncologist or other
dermatologists that have a particular focus in CTCL.
Q. And would it be fair to say when you first
started treating Mr. Johnson, it was in that, sort of,
initial capacity?
A. Correct, yes. When I first saw Mr. Johnson, he
had already been diagnosed with cutaneous T-cell
lymphoma, and you’re definitely — first referred to our
oncology group, and then they contacted us saying, you
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know, ”1 think dermatology would be better suited to take
care of this since it was only a cutaneous problem at
that t ime.”
So I took ownership of his care in the end of -
I think around October or November of 2014, and I
primarily was the majority one taking care of him, and
only when he didn’t respond to some of the treatments
that we had tried did I enlist the help of, you know,
other dermatologists that had a focus in CTCL. And then
that’s also when we made the referral out to Stanford,
because they had clinical trials and other things that
were going on that we thought Mr. Johnson would benefit
from since he w a s n ’t responding to our initial
treatments.
Q. And are you still currently at Kaiser in
Vallej o ?
A. I am not. My family relocated to Georgia, so
now I ’m working for a different group in Georgia.
Q. Are you still treating patients today?
A. Yes. Yeah, definitely. I treat a lot of
patients.
Q. When did you get into town?
A. I got in last night. I flew in last night, and
got in early -- I got in, like, midnight.
Q. Oh, okay. Well, I really appreciate you being
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here. I know Mr. Johnson appreciates you taking the time
out of your busy schedule, so thank you for that, Doctor.
A. Y o u ’re welcome.
Q. So let’s talk about that first visit with
Mr. Johnson. You have a binder in front of you. If you
could turn to the binder that is Tab 25a . It should be
the first one.
Do you see that, Doctor?
A. I do.
Q. And is this one of your medical records from
October of 2014?
A. It is.
MR. WISNER: Permission to publish, your Honor?
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: N o objection.
THE COURT: Very well.
MR. WISNER: All right. I t ’s on the screen.
Q. And there should be a screen in front of you as
we 11 .
All right. Doctor, I ’m just going to walk
through, basically, what this record shows so we know how
to read it. So at the top here, we have the Permanente
Medical Group. Is that Kaiser?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. And then we have the encounter date.
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Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Oh, I have the wrong -- sorry. I was publishing
the wrong record.
So here we go. This is the encounter date of
October 3rd, 2014.
Do you see that?
A. Correct, uh-huh.
Q. All right. And then, obviously, there’s your
name here.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. And then if we go down, it sort of discusses why
h e ’s there. And you can see right here there’s a
diagnosis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. Now, at this time, were you aware of whether or
not Mr. Johnson had any other types of carcinoma or
ailments at this time?
A. N o . All I was aware of at this visit was -- I
think he -- like I said, he initially presented to
oncology, and then he was referred to us that he had
cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and they wanted us to take
ownership of his care.
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Q. And when he presented, what do you recall about
how Mr. Johnson presented at this meeting, to the best of
A. Yeah, I mean, if I can remember, I think,
actually, I got a call towards the end of the day. It's,
like, 4 o'clock, and we usually end around 4:30. I got
the call that there was a patient with diffuse melanoma,
and, you know, you need to see him right away. And this
was at the end of the day, so we agreed to see him first
on the following morning, because we wanted to get all of
the records. And, thankfully, it was not melanoma, and
it was CTCL.
So when I saw him, I don't recall if I had other
records from his prior biopsy, but based on the way his
skin looked, I knew it was not melanoma and that it was
CTCL. I believe he had already seen our oncology group,
and they had done, you know, extensive imaging. They
also, I believe, did some biopsies of his lymph nodes.
So my first visit with him wasn't really to
change anything. It was more so trying to gather as much
data as we could to figure out, kind of, how to stage him
and then go ahead with the treatment course.
Q. And as we see right here, there's actually a
time. D o you see that? It says 4:23 p.m.
A. Oh, okay. So I may have been wrong. We may
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have seen him that day, you know, because I think he
wasn't -- he didn’t have an appointment with me.
Q. Yeah.
A. I just got a call saying, "This guy has
metastatic melanoma. You must see him now." And
metastatic melanoma is serious, you know, so I probably
said, "Sure. Bring him up. We're happy to see him."
Q. Okay. And then if we go up the next page, this
says it's your progress notes.
Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And it looks like this was made, if you see
here, at 4:54 p . m .
Do you see that?
A. Correct.
Q. So the office had already closed by this point;
is that r ight?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And so you -- based on this record, can
you tell how much time you actually spent with him in
this meeting or no?
A. So it's hard to tell, but I would assume that it
was probably about 30 minutes, from the time he checked
in, you know -- you know, I'm pretty sure, just because
it was at end of the day. There really were no other
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patients ahead of him. Usually our last patient is
anywhere from around 3:45 to 4:00, so if I was in clinic
still finishing up notes -- so I ’m pretty sure I would
have said, "Let me get to him right away, just so we
d o n ’t prolong this anymore," but, you know, I would say
30 minutes, would roughly be an estimate.
Q. And based on this time, do you think you would
have had the opportunity to carefully study his records
before seeing him?
A. You know, I -- I d o n ’t know how much I had. I
may have -- I d o n ’t know if Mr. Johnson came with
records, but I -- I know I definitely didn’t have an
extensive amount of time looking through it. I think I
probably, you know, tried to look at what the recent PET
showed, just so I know what diagnosis I ’m dealing with,
but beyond that, you know, I ’m pretty sure it was a quick
review of what I had.
Q. All right. And if we go down here, it says,
"Interval history." And it says -- i t ’s become a bit of
contention in this case, but it says right here, "Dewayne
A Johnson is a 42-year old male with one-year history of
progressive patchy squamous eruption."
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. What does that sentence mean?
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A. Well, It means that he was presented to me with,
kind of, a worsening rash that had been going on for a
year.
Q. And when you spoke with Mr. Johnson at this
time, do you recall being of the impression that he had
had it for a whole year or that it had erupted in the
last several months?
A. You know, i t ’s somewhat difficult to say, you
know. You know, my — my impression, just looking at the
whole -- the whole treatment course, was that we had —
it worsened over the last couple months, and that’s why
he presented to Solano Dermatology in August, and then
came and saw me in October.
You know, I would be surprised that he would
have been having this worsening rash for the whole year
and didn’t present until August. I know he was quite
frightened by, kind of, how bad his skin was getting, so
based on his level of, kind of, anxiety about it, I would
be surprised that he would wait a whole year to present.
But, you know, based on what I wrote, you know, it sounds
like perhaps he reported at the beginning of the year or
what, so i t ’s hard to say. You know, my understanding is
that there probably was a worsening of recent.
Q. Okay. So this was in October of 2014, so
probably it would be helpful to look at his medical
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records in the fall of 2014 to see if he reported any
rash; right?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Let's do that. Please turn to
Exhibit 32C in your binder.
Are you there, Doctor?
A. I am.
Q. And this is a medical record also from the same
Kaiser group.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. An d it's dated Septemb er 18th, 2013; correct?
A. Correct.
MR. WISNER: Permission to publish, your Honor?
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: If there's no objection to us
publishing records of other providers, we have none.
MR. WISNER: I have no objection of them
publishing Kaiser documents to a Kaiser doctor, so no
obj ection.
THE COURT: All right. Very well. You may
proceed.
MR. GRIFFIS: Well, your Honor.
THE COURT: Perhaps we need to have a sidebar.
MR. WISNER: Okay.
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( S idebar.)
3129
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(Sidebar ends . )
Q. b y m r . WIS NER: Al l ri ght. Doc to r, we 're going
to do th is blindly, mean ing w e ’re go Ing to do it with the
bi nde r s and talk ab out it.
A. Okay.
Q. So in this reco rd, this is from s ept ember of
20 13; ri ght?
A. Okay.
Q. And this relate s to M r . Johnson ; i s that right?
A. That is co rrect .
Q. And if you turn to the seco nd p ag e, it appears
th at thi s is a medi cal reco rd relate d to h i s stepping
in to a w asp nest or havi ng wasp bite s .
3130
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Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And if you turn to the second page,
there's an evaluation both of -- subjectively of
Mr. Johnson and then objectively of a physical exam.
Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And under "Skin" it says, "Negative for rash”
or -- how do you see that word?
A. Pruritus.
Q. What is that, Doctor?
A. That means itching.
Q. Okay. Is there any reference in this
September 2013 document that he had a rash?
A. I think the only thing they mentioned was on the
side of the left arm there seems to be a wound that they
said is red, warm, swollen, no sign of infection, and
they called it a bee sting and recommended a steroid
cream.
Q. So there was no evidence of a mycosis fungoides
rash at this point; is that right?
A. N o , it seems like the only rash they documented
was from a bee sting.
Q. Okay. Let's go to another medical from the fall
of 2013. If you turn to tab 45A in your binder.
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Do you see that, Doctor?
A. I do.
Q. And this is a medical record from December of
2013; is that right?
A. That’s correct.
Q. And Mr. Johnson apparently in this record had
suffered some sort of lumbar injury while doing -- while
lifting something.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. And again, there’s a physical evaluation and a
review of symptoms going onto the second page; right,
Doctor?
A. Yeah. On the physical exam, it said no apparent
distress, healthy appearing, appropriate mood and affect.
Q. And then under inspection, it talks about no
deformity, no shift, no scarring, no swelling.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. So is there any evidence in this medical record
that he was suffering from a mycosis fungoides rash at
that time?
A. N o .
Q. L e t ’s go a little bit forward now to
Exhibit 45B, and this is a medical record from January of
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2 014.
A. I do.
Q. And this is his followup from that lumbar injury
in December; is that right?
A. Correct.
Q. It looks like he had the holidays and was back
to the clinic in 2014?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And again, there’s an inspection as well. If
you turn the page, no deformity, no shift, no scarring,
no swelling.
Do you see that?
A. Correct.
Q. Apparently, it seems like h e ’s feeling better
and can go back to work; is that right?
A. Yes, correct.
Q. So again, do you see any reference in this
January medical record that Mr. Johnson was actually
suffering from a mycosis fungoides rash?
A. I do not.
Q. Now, Doctor, if I were to show you a document
that reflects Mr. Johnson’s recall of the rash that he
reported to a Poison Control Center, would that piece of
Do you see that?
information help you
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our prior discussions.
MR. WISNER: I'm attempting to lay a foundation
to see if I can get around the objection, your Honor.
MR. GRIFFIS: Objection, your Honor. Subject to
t h e COURT: Can you please approach?
MR . WISNER: Sure .
( S idebar.)
31
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( S idebar ends.)
Q. BY MR. WISNER: All right, Doctor, so let's go
back to 25A, the first document, which is your medical
record from -- your first medical record with Mr. Johnson
in October.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And so at this session, it looks like you say
under the progress notes that the lesions are mildly
pruritic. He denies associated pains or ulceration.
Do you see that?
A. Correct.
Q. How did his lymphoma present at this point in
his disease?
A. So at this stage he had mostly what we'll call a
patch or plaque stage, in which he mostly had relatively
flat scaly patches all over his body, but didn't have any
nodules, which are kind of more firm and raised bumps,
and didn't have any ulcerations, so obvious breaking of
the skin.
Q. Now, Doctor, I'd like to draw your attention to
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exhibit well, sorry, in this document, if you turn to
the last page, you see that it says digital photo
dermatology, digital photos.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. So were photographs of Mr. Johnson taken at this
time?
A. It w a s .
Q. So let’s look at those photos. If you turn to
Exhibit 32a , and you see, Doctor, it says October 3rd,
2014, at the top?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And so these are the photos that were taken of
Mr. Johnson during his first visit with you; is that
right?
A. Correct.
MR. WISNER: Your Honor, consistent with what we
discussed this morning, permission to move Exhibit 32A
into evidence.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: N o , your Honor.
THE COURT: 32A may be admitted.
MR. WISNER: Permission to publish page 9 of 10,
which is one of the ones we agreed to.
THE COURT: Very well.
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MR. GRIFFIS: N o objection, your Honor.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: All right. I'm going to put it
on the screen in a second, Doctor. So I just want to try
and get to it.
All right, Doctor, we're looking at a
photograph. This is of Mr. Johnson's right thigh and
leg; right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. If you look in here, there is a specific lesion
on his thigh. Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Now, is that different than the mycosis
fungoides lesions you were reporting in your medical
record?
A. I mean, it's hard to tell in that picture
whether or not there was an ulceration there, but it does
look more scaly than the rest of his skin lesions. But
it could also be a mycosis fungoides patch as well or it
could be something else because it kind of stands out as
what looks different from the other ones.
Q. Okay. All right.
Okay, Doctor, let's move on to the next visit,
which was a few weeks later. 25b . Let me know when
you're there.
A. I'm there.
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Q. This is October 29, 2014, is that right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And so this is after that sort of no appointment
scheduled meeting you had in earlier October. This is an
appointment that you had with him; is that right?
A. I ’m sorry, you said 25b ?
Q. Yeah, sorry. This isn’t actually -- this is a
phone call; correct?
A. Correct, i t ’s a phone call, yeah.
Q. So what happened during this phone call?
A. So it sounds like I called the patient to see
how he was doing. We may have had a scheduled telephone
call, and I reported that he has new small bumps the size
of BB pellets on his skin that were not symptomatic,
meaning they were not itchy or bothering him.
I asked him to send me some photos to our
electronic portal, and he was already scheduled to make
an appointment with me next week, and I said that I would
make an appointment with him this week if we needed to.
Q. And if you turn to the page at the bottom it
says 186 at the bottom?
A. I ’m sorry, which one?
Q. It’s hard to show, but the numbers says DJ-01.
A. Okay, got i t .
Q. The one that ends in 186.
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A. Yep.
Q. Do you see here there's a digital photo again
that were taken on October 29, 2014?
A. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Q. All right. So let's look at those briefly. If
you turn to Exhibit 32b . Are these -- this is a copy of
those photos; is that right?
A. Correct.
MR. WISNER: Move Exhibit 32b consistent with
the prior discussion, your Honor, into evidence.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: N o objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: 32b may be admitted.
MR. WISNER: Permission to publish?
THE COURT: Yes.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: All right. Doctor, we're
looking here at the first photo, do you see that? That's
his arm?
A. Correct, y es.
Q. If we go to the next one, this is a close-up.
Is that the scaly portion?
A. Yes, I d o .
Q. Is that what you're talking about when you say
the flat scaly stuff?
A. Yes. So that's what we'll consider like a patch
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stage mycosis fungoides. So it's relatively flat
patches.
Q. All right. N o w if he turns his arm the other
way, do you see these -- let me zoom in. Do you see
these red nodules? Is that what you were referring to?
A. Yes, better off even in a far off view, but you
can see this kind of more firm bumps as opposed to just
the relatively flat larger ones, and that was new since,
you know, my original visit with him.
Q. So these bumps were appearing within just a
matter of weeks; is that right?
A. Correct, correct.
Q. All right, Doctor. Let's go on to your next
visit. Not visit. I want to go to the next record. I
skipped a lot of the visits. I want to go to the next
record.
A. Okay.
Q. I skipped a lot of the visits. I just want to
get to some of the important stuff.
A. Yes.
Q. Turn to 25c . And this is a record dated
January 21st, 2015; is that right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And if you look down at the bottom, it actually
has email exchanges between you and Mr. Johnson.
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Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. If you turn to the second page, the first email
reads: "Good morning, Doctor. I ’m just checking in and
informing you that I ’m now registered with KP.org, and if
need be, we can communicate here. Also these messages
will reach me immediately via cell phone. Thanks. Have
a nice day, Dewayne Johnson."
Do you see that?
A. Yes, I d o .
Q. So it appears basically starting in
January 2015, you and Mr. Johnson were able to
communicate via email; is that right?
A. Correct.
Q. And then -- and then so it goes on to say -- you
said, "Welcome, welcome, so glad you are finally on. I
think this is a much efficient way to communicate."
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. And you ask him how the sores on his legs are
doing. Do you see that?
A. Correct.
Q. And then he responds: "One leg is totally fine,
while the very first biopsy spot is still slow to heal,
but pain is subsiding and the healing in that area has
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begun but still sore."
Do you see that?
A. I'm sorry, one second.
Q. It's on the first page. You have to go
backward.
A. I don't see that.
Yes, I d o .
Q. All right. So to the best of your recollection,
at this point in 2015, you were focusing on that scar on
his thigh; right?
A. I was.
Q. Why were you doing that?
A. Well, because that area was still very painful
for him, which was unlike all of his other lesions. You
know, most of the time they were not symptomatic at all.
Some of them were a little itchy, but pain was definitely
not a common symptom of all of them.
And whenever something is painful, especially
something that has maybe been biopsied before, the first
thing I think about is it may be infected. So I started
him on a course of antibiotics. And I don't recall.
Usually I would culture it to see if it grew any
bacteria. That's generally my common practice. So I
probably cultured it, see if it grew something in the --
and whatever, and made sure whatever antibiotics I had
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him on were susceptible to the bacteria that he had
growing.
Q. Okay, great. If you turn to Exhibit 25D. This
is February 2015; right?
A. Correct.
Q. And again, this is reflecting various email
communications between you and Mr. Johnson; is that
right?
A. Uh-huh, correct.
Q. Now on February 7, 2015, the subject of the
email is chemical exposure.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Do you see that?
A. oi—i
Q. He goes, ”Hi, I just wanted to inform you that I
had an exposure to a chemical at work called Ranger Pro.
I came into industrial health so i t ’s on record and
hopefully it doesn’t send my current situation into a
frenzy. So far i t ’s been just a little irritated, red,
but nothing too extreme.”
A.
Do you see that?
Yes.
Q. And then you responded, "Thanks for letting me
know. I ’m not familiar with this chemical but will look
into it. I do not anticipate that it will make things
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much worse, but let's keep an eye and let me know If you
notice your skin worsening."
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. Now, Doctor, did you have a chance to do a brief
research about Ranger Pro and mycosis fungoides?
A. Yeah, I think I briefly had gone on PubMed and I
put in like CTCL and Ranger Pro, and I didn't get
anything substantial back. I don't think I got any
results, but I didn't look extensively into it. But I
did do a quick PubMed search and nothing came of it.
Q. You understand the IARC, International Agency
For Research on Cancer, they issued a Monograph in March
of that same year; right?
A. Yes -
MR. GRIFFIS: Objection. Beyond the scope.
THE COURT: Counsel, can you approach?
MR. WISNER: That's the only question I'm going
to ask about i t .
THE COURT: All right. She can answer.
THE WITNESS: Yes, I am aware of that.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: So this email was before that?
A. Correct.
Q. Now do you recall having conversations with
Mr. Johnson about his chemical exposures at work?
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A. Y eah, I did. I mean, several times during our
visit he did bring up that -- you know, that he worked in
pest control and that he does have to spray, you know,
pesticides at work and whether or not that may have
caused his rash.
And I explained to him that I was not aware of
that — you know, that causing it. And, you know,
primarily my main focus for him was really how to treat
his rash. And I — you know, I didn’t spend much time
figuring out what may have caused it and devoted most of
my resources in how to get him better.
Q. Now did he ever tell you one way or the other
whether or not he had reached out to Monsanto to ask
about whether it could cause cancer?
A. You know, to be honest, I d o n ’t recall. We met
a lot. I think -- I feel like I may have seen
Mr. Johnson over 25 times during the two-year course, and
I know we talked about his exposure and I wrote something
saying that he -- he should not be exposed, if possible,
but I d o n ’t recall, you know, particularly whether he
told me about reaching out to them or not.
Q. Okay. L e t ’s turn to the next one in your
binder, 2 5 E .
Do you see that?
A. 2 5E ?
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Q. Yeah. This is a month later. It's March 4,
2015; right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And his primary diagnosis at this point is
mycosis fungoides?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And I just want to draw your attention to the
page ending in 476.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And again, there’s a photo record made on this
date.
Do you see that?
A. Yeah, digital photo, correct.
Q. And below that, under the surgical pathology
section, it says "skin right thigh shaved, biopsy,
invasive keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, well
differentiated present at the edge of the biopsy."
Do you see that, Doctor?
A. I do.
Q. What did you find when you were looking at his
leg at that point?
A. So , you know, we continued to deal with the sore
spot on the leg, and finally I said, you know, we've
given it enough time to heal, it's still not healing,
let's do a biopsy just to make sure it's not something
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else.
So we did a biopsy of that spot, and it did come
back as a squamous cell cancer, which is probably the
second most common type of skin cancer.
Q. Now, Doctor, between October, when you first
started seeing him, and March of 2015, was he receiving
phototherapy?
A. He was. That was -- you know, that is generally
the most common treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma,
and especially when i t ’s just in a plaque stage, that is
sufficient to kind of control the disease.
So we had started him on narrow band UV
treatments, and he was coming to our clinic three days a
week to get those treatments.
Q. And is that phototherapy, has it been known for
that, for phototherapy to cause a carcinoma in the skin?
A. Yeah. I mean, UV radiation, whether from the
natural sun or from our phototherapy unit is primarily
the most common cause of squamous cell carcinoma in the
skin. So we usually see it in individuals with excessive
sun exposure, but also we see it in individuals with —
you know, with phototherapy because they're getting a lot
more UV radiation than they otherwise would be.
Q. If you turn the page, Doctor, a couple of pages,
there's actually a pathology report from Stanford
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University in your record.
Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh, I d o .
Q. And it lists all the diagnoses for the various
biopsies that were done on him, including his chest and
arms and some more arms, and then the very end it says
his right thigh.
A.
Do you see that?
Correct.
Q. And the biopsy results for all of those various
biopsies was mycosis fungoides except for that one on the
thigh, which was s quamous cell carcinoma; is that right?
A. That’s correct.
Q. Is there a relationship between squamous cell
carcinoma and mycosis fungoides or are they different
cancers?
A. They’re very different cancers.
Q. Do you believe that the one on his leg was
caused by whatever was causing his mycosis fungoides?
A. No. I mean, squamous cell carcinoma we
generally -- you know, Mr. Johnson was an unusual case
because, I mean, i t ’s one that we generally see in fairer
skinned individuals who have had an excessive amount of
sun over time. We know that sun is a primary driver for
squamous cell carcinoma, whereas mycosis fungoides is not
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thought to be related to, you know, UV radiation from the
sun at all .
Q. And Doctor, if you could turn to page 32 —
sorry, tab 32E.
A. 32E?
Q. Yeah.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And turn to the first page because that first
page shouldn’t be there. And do you see starting on the
second page, you have the photos taken that date on
March 14, 2015.
Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And if you go through -
MR. WISNER: Your Honor, permission to admit 32E
into evidence consistent with our prior discussion.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: N o .
THE COURT: 32E may be admitted and published.
(Exhibit 32E was admitted into evidence.)
MR. WISNER: Thank you, your Honor.
Q. I ’m going to put on the screen 7 of 8. Do you
see that, Doctor? I t ’s of the right thigh.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. So this is a photo of his right thigh; correct?
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A. Correct.
Q. And this litigation right here on thinks thighs,
is that the squamous cell carcinoma that w e ’re talking
about?
A. It is.
Q. And what does this image, if anything, tell you?
A. Well, it looks very different from the
surrounding lesions which was why, you know, I was more
inclined to biopsy it. It’s really the main thing it
tells m e .
Q. If we look at the picture just before that,
Doctor. I ’m going to show it on the screen. This is his
legs, and you can see -- you can see that one right
there.
Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. But then the other lesions on him are very
different. You see that? Is that what you were
referring to?
A. Yes, and I suspect that this was after my biopsy
because you can see the bump was kind of gone.
Q. Okay, great. L e t ’s move on. W e ’re almost done,
Doctor. I ’m going to get you out of here this morning.
D o n ’t worry, w e ’re not going to go too long.
L e t ’s go to the next exhibit, which is 25F. And
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this is dated March 17, 2015; right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Again, this is your record, and it reflects
various email communications between you and Mr. Johnson?
A. Yes.
Q. You have to read backward. So turn the page to
the second page.
A. Okay.
Q. And the first email you see sent from
Mr. Johnson on March 17, 2 015; right? At the bottom.
A. Okay, yes.
Q. An d that’s to you; right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And the subject is work; right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And the email reads: "Doctor" -- this is
March 17, 2015. It says, "Doctor, I ’m getting to the
point where I feel a little foolish spraying and applying
chemicals. Do you feel i t ’s safe to do the kind of work
I ’m doing with the kind of skin condition that I have? I
also hope that the doctors from Stanford were able to
contact you about my visit. If not, feel free to call
me . "
Do you see that?
A. I do.
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Q. Do you believe that you called him back?
A. I do. I t ’s hard to say, but, you know,
Mr. Johnson was one of my most severe cases so I was —
i t ’s hard to say if I called him back or not. I normally
do many times I tend to give them a call if I think
there’s something better communicated over the phone than
email.
Q. At this point y ou’re waiting for confirmation
from Stanford that the tumor in his leg was in fact
s quamous cell carcinoma; is that right?
A. It’s hard to say. You know, I did the biopsy
and I got the results, and I also reviewed the PET slides
so I was fairly confident that it was a squamous cell
cancer, but I know that given that i t ’s unusual for
somebody of Mr. Johnson’s demographic to have a squamous
cell carcinoma, I know that Stanford wanted to kind of do
a second opinion, but I d o n ’t know that I was necessarily
waiting for their confirmation.
Q. I ’ll show you your email.
A. Okay.
Q. But you respond to Mr. Johnson, third sentence
down, "Will send the slides from your thigh to Stanford
for review to confirm squamous cell carcinoma before we
proceed with surgery."
A. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I that may have been
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mostly just to make sure that there wasn't something else
going on before I decided to go ahead and do the
excision, but I don't recall that time and place, and I
know that we had already planned the excision, but since
we had other doctors working on the case, and to make
sure we're all on the same page, I may have asked that we
get, you know, okay from them before proceeding.
Q. Okay. And in this same record, there's actually
an email, a separate email exchange just above that, do
you see, it's subject squamous.
Do you see that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And to the best of your recollection, after it
was confirmed that it was squamous cell carcinoma, did
you actually remove it from him?
A. I did. I did the excision.
Q. Okay. And it looks like an email just after
that, it says, "Squamous. I got the message. Thanks
again for slicing me up and cutting the poison out."
Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And you said, Great, my pleasure." That's you
responding; right?
A. Yes.
Q. And so at this point in March of 2015 well,
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okay, strike that.
So Doctor, I want to focus in on that first
email we read, which was him feeling foolish about
spraying chemicals at the school.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Did this conversation prompt you to do anything
on behalf of Mr. Johnson?
A. Yeah. You know, when he had said that he was
really worried that spraying this was worsening his
condition or may have been causing his condition, I did
write a letter to the School Board, and I requested that
he not be exposed to any airborne environmental allergens
as that could exacerbate his condition.
Q. And specifically that was referring to the
Ranger Pro and chemicals that h e ’s talking about?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you know if at this time in March of 2015, do
you know if he reached out again to Monsanto to see if
there was any relationship between Roundup and cancer?
MR. GRIFFIS: Objection. This has been asked
already.
THE COURT: Overruled.
You may answer.
THE WITNESS: I ’m not familiar. I really do not
recall whether or not he told me about reaching out to
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Monsanto.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: If in fact Mr. Johnson did,
would that be consistent with his sort of protective
attempts to figure out w h a t ’s going on?
MR. GRIFFIS: Objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: Sustained.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: N o w , Doctor, at this time in
March of 2015, if someone had told you, hey, this causes
cancer, would you have advised him to stop spraying it?
MR. GRIFFIS: Objection. I t ’s continued
hypotheticals, your Honor.
THE COURT: Sustained.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: In your practice, do you know of
something called the cautionary principle?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. What is that?
A. My understanding is that, you know, it is okay
and advisable to avoid something that could potentially
be -- can exacerbate a condition, even if i t ’s not been
conclusive.
So , you know, if I had a patient that was
exposed to something and I thought may be causing it, my
recommendation is to avoid it rather than waiting to see
whether or not it truly does cause it later on.
Q. But if i t ’s not conclusive, why would you make
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that recommendation?
A. Well, I mean oftentimes the diagnosis can be
quite severe and life-threatening. And for me and my
patient’s health, i t ’s not worth the risk.
Q. All right, Doctor. L e t ’s flash forward a little
bit in time here, and if you look at Exhibit 25J.
Are you there, Doctor?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. So this is September 2015?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Again, this is your medical record as
well; right?
A. It is.
Q. And so this is after his -- his squamous cell
had been removed from his thigh; is that right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. W e ’re in September now. And if you turn to the
second page, i t ’s talking about his situation, and it
says, "skin appears progressive, getting new thicker
plaques with some ulcerations."
Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. What is "skin appears progressive"? What does
that mean?
A. Well, unfortunately, over my time caring for
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Mr. Johnson, especially then, he continued to get new
lesions in places that he previously did not, and the
lesions initially where he had mostly relatively flat
patches, he continued to have more raised plaques, which
is concerning for a greater kind of tumor burden than you
would with the flatter patches.
Q. And if you turn to the page ending in 910, so
i t ’s two pages over.
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Under the comment section in diagnosis/clinical
impression, it says, "Clinical impression, patient with
known CTCL and max dose of Targretin with progression of
skin lesions. Please rule out large cell
transformation."
What does that mean?
A. So large cell transformation is something that
w e ’ve seen in a small minority of MF patients, and i t ’s
mostly a pathological diagnosis, meaning that as a
pathologist, I look underneath the microscope and rather
than the typical or atypical cells that we see in mycosis
fungoides, patients with large cell transformation tend
to have much larger cells and they also tend to stain
differently. So there’s a particular antigen called
CD20, and that’s one the special stains that the
pathologists look at. And those patients tend to be
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positive for it.
So it's — you know, it's one of the
progressions that we look out for. In some regard, it
can be -- it could be a negative prognostic indicator,
and it also means that we often have to change our
treatment options.
Q. Do you know if after the September meeting he
did actually have large cell transformation?
A. He did.
Q. And is that a — that's obviously not a positive
prognosis for Mr. Johnson; is that right?
A. Correct, correct. He continued to have
progressive disease, and he was not responding to things
that we were doing, and especially with the large cell
transformation, that was one of the times that I sent him
back to Stanford because I knew that they had some
clinical trials that were specific for large cell
transformation disease.
But it definitely was not a good sign. He was
heading the wrong direction.
Q. And when you say "clinical trials,” are those
sort of experimental treatments that maybe could help
him?
A. Yes, yeah. There were some new studies and some
new medications that were shown to target, you know, CTCL
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that had some large cell transformation, and those were
not yet available for kind of standard use. So the only
way to kind of have access for those medications were for
patients on clinical trials.
And at Kaiser we didn’t have those clinical
trials available so I needed to send him out to get
that -- that -- to get access to those medications.
Q. Now radiation exposure, radiation treatment,
that can cause s quamous cell cancer cells; right?
A. UV radiation, correct, yes.
Q. Notwithstanding the fact that he had that prior
tumor in his leg, did he ultimately end up getting
radiation therapy?
A. He did. It was -- it was a decision that we
battled with for quite some time. Given his history of
squamous cell cancer, we were worried that with total
electron beam radiation, he was going to be at risk for
getting more squamous cell cancer. And it became
basically a risk versus benefit conversation that we just
felt that his mycosis fungoides was so progressive that
if we didn’t do something to stop it, you know, he would
likely end up, you know, succumbing to that, you know,
versus possible squamous cell later on.
So initially when I sent him, I think it was
declined that he would not get it, but given how
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progressive his disease went, we decided to proceed with
i t .
Q. And Doctor, even when he was receiving the
radiation therapy while you were there, were you still
his primary point of contact?
A. I was. I was, yes. He was going to Stanford
for the radiation treatment, but they would refer him
back to me as well as Dr. Tsai. And Mr. Johnson lived in
Benicia, which is right next to Vallejo, so I was his
primary contact.
Q. Did Mr. Johnson in his meetings with you, did he
seem like somebody had wanted to live?
A. Definitely, yeah. I know he was very much
motivated to get better. I think that at times, because
our treatments were not as successful, he had moments
that he was frustrated, moments that he may have felt
defeated, but he was very much motivated to get better
and to live. You know, I think he had a lot of positive
things in his life that he wanted to live for, and he was
a young male for sure.
Q. What are some of the side effects of radiation
treatment?
A. Well, the total beam -- the total electro beam
radiation can definitely cause kind of overall skin
darkening. It can definitely cause sensitivity in the
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skin itself. It can -- you know, it's not a procedure
that I do commonly so it's not one that I kind of caution
patients of the risks or benefit of it, but those are
kind of the ones that kind come to mind that I know it
can definitely cause.
Q. Now in this September meeting -- again, if you
turn to page 911, it actually shows that you took photos
again; is that right?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Let's quickly get those. Look at 32J.
THE COURT: Are you moving 32J?
MR. WISNER: I just want to lay the foundation,
but I will.
Q. Are you there Doctor?
A. I am.
Q. And These are the photographs taken on
September 3rd, 2015?
A. Yes, it looks like it.
MR. WISNER: Your Honor, consistent with our
discussion, move 32J into evidence.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. GRIFFIS: N o objection.
THE COURT: All right. So 32J may be admitted
and published.
Q. BY MR. WISNER: N o w , Doctor, I just wanted to
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show the jury a couple of these to sort of get a sense of
the progression.
So this is 32J. And let’s look at number 4,
page 4 of 16. This is his right arm.
Do you see that, Doctor?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And how, if any, way is this different than the
sort of lesions we were seeing in 2014?
A. So this lesion is more ulcerated, you know, so
he was clearly getting breaks in the skin from the tumor
itself. So that’s probably the biggest one. And they
are also larger plaques that are also more indurated.
And indurated is a tough -- indurated is based on how it
feels, you know? So it feels like there’s substance to
it when you palpate the skin.
Q. Are these painful?
A. You know, sometimes they’re not. The sores can
be painful, but mostly the plaques, you know, with
mycosis fungoides generally itch is the predominant
symptom more so than pain, but when you get some
ulcerations, the ulcers can get infected and that can be
a source of pain. So it varies significantly with just
patients.
Q. And during Mr. Johnson’s treatment, did he get
infected several times?
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A. He did, he did. Y o u know, we cultured lesions.
I think there was an ulceration in his skull that was
infected that we had to treat with a course of
antibiotics. I d o n ’t recall if the ones in the arm were
infected as well. But we did have a couple cases in
which we needed to treat him.
And I know when he saw some of the physicians at
Stanford, they had also given him a course of
antibiotics, too.
Q. And this is in September 2015. If Mr. Johnson
at this point was actually still spraying chemicals,
would these open sores allow more of that chemical to
absorb into him?
A. Yes. I mean, whenever you have a break in skin,
you kind of lose that skin barrier. Okay? So i t ’s
definitively much more easier for things to penetrate
into the skin when that barrier has been compromised.
MR. WISNER: Thank you.
Your Honor, the Court’s indulgence for a minute.
Thank you, Doctor, for coming out from Atlanta.
I appreciate your time.
N o further questions at this time.
THE COURT: All right. Ladies and Gentlemen,
w e ’re going to take the morning recess now. It’s 5 of
11:00, and w e ’ll be in recess for 15 minutes and resume
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again at 11:10.
Please remember do not discuss the case or do
any research.
You may step down.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
(Recess.)
THE COURT: Welcome back, Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Doctor remains under oath.
M r . Griffis.
MR. GRIFFIS: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: Yo u may proceed.
c r o s s -e x a m i n a t i o n
BY MR. GRIFFIS:
Q. Dr. Ofodile, thank you so much for coming all
the way out here to testify.
A. My pleasure.
Q. I had some questions for you, but you have
answered them all and so I have no questions to ask
today.
A. Okay.
THE COURT: Thank you.
Mr. Wisner, you may proceed.
MR. WISNER: I d o n ’t have more further
questions. She can be excused.
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THE COURT: All right. Very well.
Doctor, you may be excused. Thank you very
much .
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
THE COURT: Call your next witness.
MR. DICKENS: Thank you, your Honor. At this
time we call M s . Araceli Johnson to the stand.
THE COURT: Very well.
Good morning, M s . Johnson. If you would please
step up here and remaining standing while the clerk
swears you in. Just step right up here.
a r a c e l i Jo h n s o n ,
having been first duly sworn, was examined
as testified as follows:
THE CLERK: Would you please state and spell
your full name for the record.
THE WITNESS: Araceli, A-R-A-C-E-L-I, Johnson,
J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
THE COURT: Thank you.
You may proceed, Mr. Dickens.
d i r e c t e x a m i n a t i o n
BY MR. DICKENS:
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Q. Good morning, M r s . Johnson. H o w a r e you today?
A. Nervous.
Q. If it helps, every time I stand up here I get
nErvous, too. So I think we can get through this
togEthEr Just try to keep your voice up, though, so
thosE of us back here can hear you. D o your best, okay?
A. Yes. I ’ll try.
Q. Okay. Y o u ’re here today because y ou’re married
to Lee Johnson; corrEct?
A. Yes.
Q. And when were — how long have you been married?
A. I think 11 years.
Q. And how did you meet Lee?
A. At Napa Valley College in pre-algebra class.
Q. If you can maybe pull that mic closer, that
might be helpful. Just pull it closer to you.
You said that was a pre-algebra class?
A. Yes.
Q. And where was that?
A. In Napa Valley College.
Q. That’s Napa Valley College?
A. Yes.
Q.
Were you
What were you doing at Napa Valley College?
A. I was taking a pre-algebra class, and that’s how
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stare right at him. It was his color skin, I was
attracted to him, and I wanted to get to know him.
I met him. He came in late. I had saw him walk in. I
Q. Did you talk to him on that day?
A. N o , I was too scared to talk to him. Days went
by, and I said to myself, I ’ll be brave the next time I
see him, I ’ll tell him how I felt, and I couldn’t do it.
Q. Did you ever tell him how you felt?
A. My sister was in the class with me at that time,
and I mentioned to my sister that I liked him and, you
know, I wanted to get to meet him, and then she actually
helped me. I couldn’t do it. I was not going to do it
myself. I couldn’t approach him at all.
Q.
you?
And she actually did that for you, she helped
A. My sister did it for me.
Q. And now y ou’re married and been married for
11 years?
A. Now w e ’re married, yes.
Q. Are you from this area originally?
A. N o . I was born in Mexico, and my parents
brought me when I was 11 going on 12 years old, I think.
Q. And brought you to this area?
A.
f amily.
He brought me to Napa. I lived in Napa with my
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Q. And is your family still in the area?
A. Yes. My dad passed away, and my mom and my
siblings
still.
are here. I still do have family in Mexico
Q. Do you and Lee have any children?
A. Yes. I have two boys and a stepson.
Q. Okay. And how old -- first we'll start with
your two boys. How old are your two boys?
A. Ali is 13, and Kahli's about to be 10.
Q. That was Ali is 13?
A. Thirteen.
Q. And Kahli is ten?
A. Yes.
Q.
stepson?
And you mentioned a stepson. How old is your
A. I d o n 't know.
Q. It's hard to keep track, isn't it?
A. Yeah. I don't know.
Q. Can you just tell us a little bit about -- and
tell the jury a little bit about Kahli and Ali. What
types of things do they like to do?
A. Ali is very caring, a leader, very mature for
his age. He likes sports. He likes Fortnite. It's a
video game. That's what he likes to do.
Q. Okay. And how about Ali o r Kahli ? I'm
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sorry.
A. Kahli it's very determined, very happy. He does
not like sports. He likes to read, and he also likes to
play Fortnite.
Q. Fortnite's a popular game, I guess.
A. Yes.
Q. Obviously, we've heard a lot about Lee and his
sickness, but before he was diagnosed with cancer, what
types of things would you all do as a family?
A. Go out to dinner, go to the park so the kids can
play basketball, sports, take a ride, go to the beach.
Q. I'm going to hand you what is Plaintiff's
Exhibit 12 .
MR. DICKENS: May I approach, your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes.
Q. BY MR. DICKENS: Can you identify Plaintiff's
Exhibit 12 for us, Mrs. Johnson?
A. Yes, it's snowboarding.
Q. Okay. And is this a picture that you took?
A. Yes. I think s o , yes.
MR. DICKENS: At this time, your Honor, we'll
move to admit Plaintiff's Exhibit Number 12.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MS. EDWARDS: N o objection.
THE COURT: Twelve may be admitted. It may be
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published also.
(Exhibit 12 admitted Into evidence.)
MR. DICKENS: All right. Yeah, I'll get there.
Q. And you said you took this picture. When,
approximately, did you take this picture?
A. Winter?
Q. That's a pretty good guess.
And can you identify those in the picture?
A. Ali, Kahli and my husband, Lee.
Q. And would you go snowboarding a lot?
A. N o .
Q. Okay. Had Lee ever snowboarded before?
A. N o . I don't -- I don't know.
Q. And how about you? Were you also snowboarding?
A. I did. Before I met him, I actually enjoyed
snowboarding, yes, I did.
Q. Okay. So you brought Lee along with you?
A. Yes.
Q. Ho w is he at snowboarding?
A. Not that good.
Q. Kahli and Ali, do they snowboard a lot?
A. N o . That was the first time .
Q. Okay. Were they better than their father was?
A. Especially Kahli, ye s .
Q. Your children, are they currently out of school
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for the summer?
A. Yes, they are.
Q. An d they’ll probably have to go back soon; is
that right?
A. August 15th they will be going back to school.
Q. W e ’ve heard that Lee and you both live in
Vallejo D o they go to the Vallejo school system?
A. N o .
Q. Where do the kids go to school?
A. They go to Napa school.
Q. How far away is that?
A. With traffic, i t ’s 45 minutes up to an hour.
Q. Okay. How do they get there?
A. I drive them every morning and drop them off to
their schools, and then I go to work.
Q.
school?
Okay. Why do you drive them 45 minutes for
A. Well, I didn’t think the Vallejo schools are
very — well, I believe that taking my kids to Napa
school there -- where i t ’s better, where they can have an
opportunity to study, to learn more, and there wouldn’t
be much of a problem as the Vallejo school.
Q. How do they get home from school?
A. The days that I ’m off, I will take them home,
and the days that I ’m at my second job, my husband will
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pick them u p .
Q. Okay. And does Lee — is — does he work out in
that area currently?
A. N o .
Q. So h e ’s drives 45 minutes to pick them up and
then brings them home?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that something that Lee -- is that time that
he enjoys with the kids?
A. I believe s o , because i t ’s just quality time.
They’re alone and riding in the car. You know, I enjoy
myself. You know, i t ’s quality time with me and my kids
where I can find out if they’re doing their homework or
not doing their homework, w h a t ’s going on in school.
They tell me, you know — just like normal kids.
Q. You mentioned that you drop them off and then go
to work. Can you tell us where you’re currently
employed?
A. I work for Unified School District in Napa.
Q. Okay. And what do you do for the Unified School
District in Napa?
A. I am an instructional assistant.
Q. Is that the only job you have?
A. N o . Then my second job is Piner’s. I t ’s a
nurs ing hom e .
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Q. And what do you do there?
A. I'm a certified nursing assistant.
Q. So you actually have two jobs?
A. Yes.
Q. How many hours per week are you currently
working?
A. Well, I think it's 14 hours a day, 66 hours —
no, 7 hours and 8 some days -- well, now my schedule has
changed, so it's 6 hours and 8.
Q. So you're working, actually, 14-hour days?
A. Yes.
Q. And you said it takes about 45 minutes to get
there, too?
A. Yes.
Q. How many days per week are you doing that?
A. I — my schedule changes for p.m. It's
rotational, my days off. So some days I work seven days.
Some days I will work five days, which align my two days
off.
Q. Have you always worked 14-hour days for that
many days per week?
A. N o .
Q. When did that start?
A. When my husband was diagnosed with cancer.
Q. And what made that change when he got diagnosed
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with cancer? Why did you have to start working that
much?
A. I wanted to be able to help to ease off the
stress for the bills and make sure that the kids had a
place to live.
Q.
anymore?
Was that hard on Lee when he couldn’t work
A. Tremendously.
Q. And you say "tremendously." Can you tell us --
A. Well, his job was everything. We had — he had
a great job, Monday through Friday. He had good
insurance. He had -- he had everything. I didn’t have
to work two jobs. I mean, he -- he was fine. We were
fine.
Q. How about now?
A. It’s very difficult. I t ’s very stressful. I t ’s
just too
feel.
much — too much for me to explain how I really
Q. And how about for Lee? Is it -- do you feel he
feels the same way?
A. I believe s o . But he doesn’t talk about it, but
I can see a lot of changes in him through this process.
Q. Changes since h e ’s been diagnosed?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. What kind of changes have you noticed?
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A. He couldn't sleep. He was, you know, In a lot
of pain, just very depressed, upset for everything.
Everything was just actually — mad. He was just mad for
anything.
Q. And you said he just wouldn't really talk about
it much; is that right?
A. Yeah.
Q. Did you ever see Lee cry?
A. Yes.
Q. A lot?
A. When he first diagnosed, yes. And through a lot
of the pain and suffering with the skin, he did a lot of
crying, too, especially at night when he thought we were
asleep.
Q. So you said when he thought you were asleep,
would that — would he typically try to cry —
A. Hide.
Q. -- by himself?
A. Yeah. Try to hide. I think he'd try to show
that, you know, we can — he was -- like, he tried to
show that I'm okay, but I can feel that he wasn't. He
wanted to be positive. You know, he tried to be
positive. He wanted to be.
Q. But you think he was trying to be positive for
who?
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A. For u s and the kids.
Q. Yo u probably know Lee better than anyone. Can
you just describe -- you know, obviously you’ve described
how he was after the diagnosis. How was he when you
first met him or married? Can you describe him for u s ?
A. Happy. Sexy. H e ’s very talented. Likes music.
Likes playing lots of sports with the kids. We were
going out for dinner, going out for a walk.
Q. And did that change after that?
A. Yes.
Q. Yo u work a lot. Do you -- how much time do you
get to spend with Lee?
A. The majority of my time is at night when I get
home from work.
Q. Are the kids asleep at that point?
A. The days that are school days, yes, they’re
already in bed. And the days like the summer right now,
they’ll be up waiting for me. W e ’ll watch TV. W e ’ll sit
down and talk about the day.
Q. Would Lee -- prior to him being diagnosed, would
he help out around the house? What type of things would
he do ?
A. Could you repeat the question?
Q. Yeah. Before he was diagnosed with his cancer,
would he help out around the house?
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A. Yes.
Q. Okay. What types of things would he do?
A. Cook. He would help me clean.
Q. Would he fix things around the house?
A. Yes. Keep the house neat.
Q. Was there a time after the diagnosis he wa s n ’t
able to do that?
A. There was a time when he -- when he got chemo
that he was in bed for a whole month. He was barely
eating, barely drinking. I think he only had one meal a
day, and it was a very small amount. And he couldn’t
help me cook, clean, fold laundry. He couldn’t help me
with anything, and I would have to go to work. I would
come home, try to cook after work, make sure we eat food,
and, actually, I begged my kids to help me clean and make
sure to have water for Lee next to the bed so he can
drink.
Q. If you didn’t have to do so much or work so
much, would you spend more time with Lee and the family?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that something that Lee and the rest of the
family miss, is that time together?
A. Yes. That’s a lot of years gotten by, and it
seems like it was just yesterday. You know, time — the
kids are growing, and yeah. I think I would like to
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have only one job and be able to spend time with my kids,
ye s .
Q. That time Lee was in the bed, I presume he
wa s n ’t able to, you know, go to the kids’ sports events
and things like that; is that fair?
A. Yeah, he was just in bed. He -- his memory —
he was talking to himself. He -- he was ordering food in
the middle of the bed.
Q. You mentioned his memory. Was his memory
affected at all by -
A. Yeah, I think he was forgetting a lot of stuff.
He wouldn’t remember stuff. He would say stuff that was
not there.
Q. I think at one point you had told me that -- you
joked that he had dementia. Do you remember that?
A. Yes, I said he had dementia.
Q. Did Lee generally take care of his health before
he was diagnosed?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you aware of any chronic or serious health
conditions he had?
A. Before he was sick?
Q. Right.
A. N o , he was fine.
Q. Ho w did you learn that Lee had cancer?
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A. He told m e .
A. I do remember we were in the car, and he said,
”1 got a phone call, and they told me I have cancer.”
And after that, just -- my world just shut down. I
couldn’t believe him. I said, ”N o , that’s not true.”
That — no, I couldn’t accept it. My world just shut
down. I couldn’t cook. I couldn’t clean. I couldn’t do
anything. I only cried every night. It was very hard.
Q. And was it from that point, you know, almost
immediately that — you had mentioned Lee tried to be
strong for you and the family. Was that almost
immediate?
A. When we first heard it, he was just very quiet,
and then he was crying a lot at night, but he -- he was
just, like, spaced out. Like -- like, he was in shock.
I d o n ’t know. He was just very quiet.
Q. Do you remember any time before he actually went
and had his diagnosis of cancer any type of symptoms that
he had? Do you remember anything like that?
A. N o .
Q. Did you see anything on -- on his body or arms
or anything like that?
A. Before? N o . I d o n ’t remember.
Q. What do you remember about that?
Q. And did Lee have has he told the kids? Do
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the children know what their dad's diagnosis is?
A. They know that he has cancer. But I don't think
they — it's -- they know what's really going to happen.
Q. Was Lee the one who told the kids?
A. I think we did it together, and then I told them
separately another time, just to remind them that he was
sick, to spend time with him as much as you can, you
know, just spend time with him, get to know your dad.
Q. How did the children take the news?
A. They were like, "Cancer?" They didn't even know
what cancer -- and I couldn't explain it to them. He's
just very sick.
Q. Was it hard on Lee to tell your two younger kids
about the cancer diagnosis?
A. Yes, I believe it was very hard for him to tell
them.
Q. You mentioned there was a time you think Lee was
depressed. I mean, was there any particular point in
time that you recognized it might be worse?
A. I think — I think he's been very depressed,
especially when he was getting those treatments. He
was -- you know, he was in a lot of pain. He was just
sad.
Q. Dr. Ofodile had testified that -- that, you
know, Lee was a fighter. Was there any time that you
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thought maybe he didn't want to fight any more, maybe he
wanted to give up?
A. When — it was when — the month that I told you
that he had -- that he was in bed. He literally forced
himself to get out of bed and try to go to some family
funeral, and I looked at him dressed, and I told him,
"Oh, my God. You're, like, swimming in the clothes,”
because he had lost so much weight, and I said, "You
can't go like that." And he couldn't even barely put his
shoes on. He was in a lot of pain. He can't actually -
couldn't find any shoes that he could, you know, use. So
then he just started crying and crying, and he said, "I
just want to die," and that broke my heart.
Q. A funeral. Was it someone in his family?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know who that was?
A. I think uncle. I don't know, because I told you
he was very sick. He was seeing stuff that was not
there. So at one point, I didn't believe that nobody had
passed away. You know, he was very confused.
Q. Was he able to go to that funeral?
A. He tried. He tried, but he didn't go .
Q. Was not — missing out on that, a family member?
Was that hard on him?
A. I believe it was hard on him, but he didn't
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he didn't say anything. But I could see you know, he
was crying. He was in — he was in tears.
Q. Obviously Lee's condition, and we've seen some
photographs, it affected his skin. Has that been hard on
him? Is there things he doesn't want to do because of
his appearance?
A. Yeah. A lot of times he didn't want to go out.
If we go out, he'll just try to hide. He tried to -- you
know, I think he was embarrassed at one point.
Q. Embarrassed to go out into public?
A. Yeah. For people to stare at him and look at
him and, you know, "What's wrong with his skin?”
Q. Did you actually see people staring?
A. Yes.
Q. And was that, you know, from diagnosis until,
you know, today? Has that continued?
A. Not much now. I think he's -- you know, he's -
I think he's doing a lot better now.
Q. If I can hand you what we'll mark as Plaintiff's
Exhibit 2 4.
MR. DICKENS: May I approach, your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes.
Q. BY MR. DICKENS: Exhibit 24 is another
photograph, Mrs. Johnson. Is that another photograph
that you took?
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A. Yes.
MR. DICKENS: Move to admit Plaintiff's
Exhibit 24, your Honor?
THE COURT: Any objection?
MS. EDWARDS: N o , your Honor.
THE COURT: Very well. Twenty-four may be
admitted and published.
(Exhibit 24 admitted into evidence.)
Q. BY MR. DICKENS: Where was this picture taken?
A. In San Francisco. Here.
Q. Was this after his cancer diagnosis?
A. Yes.
Q. I see he's, you know, in a, kind of, jacket, and
he's wearing a hat in this picture.
Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And is that something he would wear a lot when
you went out?
A. Similar to that. Glasses, more cover.
Q. And that was to avoid the stares and because of
his embarrassment?
A. Yes.
Q. Another thing you had once mentioned is -- I
think you referred to him as more of a mom than a dad?
A. Yeah.
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Q. Do you remember that?
A. I actually say that a lot, because he Is more of
a mom than a dad.
Q. Can you tell us just what you mean by that?
A. HI s kids come first. When I try to serve
dinner, I hand him the plate first, and he says, "No ,
d o n ’t serve me first. Serve my kids first," or, "Show
the kids this, show the kids this." You know, make sure
they’re fine, everything is -- his priority is his kids.
Q. So does he surround his life — I mean, are, you
know, the kids and you, kind of, the center of that?
A. The majority, I would say the kids. Not much
about me. I do compete on attention sometimes.
Q. You are working a lot as well; right?
A. Yes.
Q. Lee just had a recent doctor’s appointment. Do
you know anything about, you know, his prognosis or
anything?
A. N o . I think at a certain point I just stopped
thinking about appointments and treatments and any of
that. I t ’s -- i t ’s too much for me to process, to handle
that. I d o n ’t want to know.
Q. You just enjoy the time you do have with him?
A. Yes. And, actually, that helped me, you know,
be more positive.
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Q. What do you remember when was Lee at his
happiest that you’ve ever seen him?
A. Before he had cancer. We had nothing to worry
about. We had no worries. We didn’t have to think about
doctors appointments. We didn’t have to worry about
something. It was no worries, no stress. None of that.
Life was beautiful. Simple. Just hanging out, having a
great time. N o worries. N o depression. N o -- i t ’s
something I have to carry around, cancer. You know, I -
i t ’s just too much to deal with.
Q. Thank you, Mrs. Johnson.
MR. DICKENS: I have no further questions.
THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Dickens.
M s . Edwards.
MS. EDWARDS: Good morning, Mrs. Johnson. Thank
you for coming in today. You and I have met.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
MS. EDWARDS: But I have no questions for you.
Thank you for coming in.
THE COURT: Thank you.
All right. Mrs. Johnson, you may be excused.
Step down. Thank you.
MR. DICKENS: Your Honor, before we call
Mr. Johnson to the stand, w e ’d like to read two
admissions into the record.
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THE COURT: Very well.
MR. DICKENS: "Admission Number 13. Request:
Admit that Monsanto has never warned any consumers that
glyphosate-contalning products can cause non-Hodgkin's
1ymphoma.
"Response. Admitted. Monsanto denies its
glyphosate-containing products can cause non-Hodgkin's
1ymphoma.
"Admission Number 14. Request: Admit that
Monsanto never warned Dewayne Lee Johnson prior to
August 2014 that glyphosate-containing products could
cause cancer.
"Response. Admitted. Monsanto denies that its
glyphosate-containing products can cause cancer."
THE COURT: Call your next witness, Mr. Dickens.
MR. DICKENS: Thank you, your Honor.
At this time, we call Mr. Dewayne Lee Johnson to
the stand.
THE COURT: Mr. Johnson, if you'd please step up
here, and remain standing while the clerk swears you in.
MR. DICKENS: Your Honor, if I may approach?
THE COURT: Yes.
d e w a y n e l e e Jo h n s o n ,
having been first duly sworn, was examined
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and testified as follows:
THE CLERK: Would you please state and spell
your name fully in the record.
THE WITNESS: Dewayne Johnson, D-E-W-A-Y-N-E,
Johnson, J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
THE COURT: Thank you. You may proceed,
M r . Dickens.
d i r e c t e x a m i n a t i o n
BY MR. DICKENS:
Q. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. You just said your name
is Dewayne Johnson. Do you go by Lee Johnson?
A. Yeah, I use Lee. I d o n ’t use Dewayne at all.
Q. Okay. How are you doing today?
A. Okay.
Q. Your wife did an amazing job.
I want to see if you can get the same answer.
How long have you been married, Mr. Johnson?
A. You know, w e ’ve been married one year — at
least -- at least 13. So I say 14, because we were
together one year before that. So w e ’ve been married 13
legally.
Q. Okay. She says 13, you say 14?
A. Right, 13, 14.
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Q. So it's probably 13?
A. We have been committed for 14 years.
Q. Okay. N o w , you live in Vallejo?
A. I do.
Q. Ho w long have you been there?
A. I lived in Vallejo my whole life. I left
Vallejo for the last two or three years. We lived in
Vacaville, and we lived in Napa. And I lived in
Sacramento when I was younger. And the rest of my years
have been in Vallejo.
Q. Were you born and raised in Vallejo?
A. Born and raised in Vallejo.
Q. Do you still have family in the area?
A. I have plenty of family.
Q. Okay. Who's in the area?
A. I have aunties, cousins, my mom, two of my
sisters out of the three, a couple of nephews, nieces.
Q. And are you a close family?
A. Pretty much, yeah.
Q. You -- who currently lives with you?
A. Araceli lives with me, of course, and our two
sons, Ali, Kahli.
Q. And Araceli has just given us some information.
Beyond that, can you tell us about Kahli and Ali,
generally?
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A. For me, like she said, Ali is a super
athletic, strong, tall. You know, h e ’s -- everything
about him says athlete, you know. And he loves sports.
He
loves -- h e ’s already played soccer. H e ’s already played
organized soccer, organized basketball, organized
football, swimming. H e ’s just that guy, you know.
And h e ’s very smart. He doesn’t like us to take
pictures. He doesn’t like attention. But at the same
time, he just gets a lot of attention. So I d o n ’t know.
It’s just what it is about him, so —
Yeah, h e ’s very outgoing. He has a lot of
friends. He gets a lot of attention. H e ’s just -- h e ’s
very popular around school and stuff. So , yeah, h e ’s -
Q. And what grade is he going to be going into?
A. Going into the 8th grade.
Q. And what about your younger son?
A. Kahli is, sort of, opposite him. Kahli is a -
a good golfer. He likes golf. He can tee off pretty
good. I ’m impressed by his golfing skills, actually. He
likes basketball. He shoots very well. But h e ’s not
really an athletic kid. He wants to be a chemist.
Something about Kahli, I ’ll say that Kahli
actually made me some potion for cancer.
Q. Oh, he did?
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A. Yo u know, he said, "I'll make you some potion."
He took stuff and concocted it and gave it in a little
blue bottle. I drank it. I d o n ’t know if it worked.
Yeah, he wants to be a chemist, Kahli.
Q. Great.
Do you know what was in the potion?
A. I just asked him, "Yo u didn't put any detergent
or soap or anything?" He just said, "No . It's all from
the refrigerator and cabinets."
Q. It's got to be safe. And how did it taste?
A. It was the worst.
Q. But you still drank it?
A. Yeah. It was salty, sweet, lemony. It was not
good.
Q. Are you, yourself -- you mentioned he likes to
golf. Are you a golfer?
A. Yes, I a m .
Q. Okay. And do you still golf now?
A. I don't golf much anymore. Because of my
shoulder and the neuropathy in my hands, I don't do much
golfing anymore. I haven't golfed in probably the last
three or four years.
Q. Yo u mentioned a bunch of the sports that your
children do. Someone liked soccer. Were you a soccer
fan? Were you a soccer player?
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A. I knew nothing about soccer when my son started
playing soccer. His mother is an ex-soccer player. So
when he played soccer, I learned all that stuff from him
and his coaches and just watching those amazing kids and
what they do out there.
Q. So would you go to the games and his practices?
A. Oh, yeah. Every game. All the practices, yeah.
Q. And now do you know more about soccer?
A. Oh, yeah. I know a lot about soccer now.
Q. I showed some pictures that your wife took. I
want to, you know, show a couple and see if you can help
us out there.
You have a binder in front of you. If you can
turn to w h a t ’s marked as Exhibit 7, Mr. Johnson.
Do you see that picture?
A. Yes.
Q. And is that a picture that you, yourself, took?
A. I did.
MR. DICKENS: I move to admit Plaintiff’s
Exhibit Number 7, your Honor.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MS. EDWARDS: N o , your Honor.
THE COURT: Seven may be admitted and published.
(Exhibit 7 admitted into evidence.)
Q. BY MR. DICKENS: Where were you at this time,
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M r . Johnson?
A. This is at a lookout point above the Golden Gate
Bridge. You can kind -- you can see the whole city from
there. And then down below it, you can see more scenery.
But that’s a lookout point.
Q. Do you know when this was?
A. Not exactly. N o , I d o n ’t.
Q. And that’s Kahli in the front there?
A. That’s Kahli in the front.
Q. Ali in the middle?
A. Ali in the middle and mom in the back.
Q. All right. Did you used to do things like this?
I mean, go out quite a bit, before your diagnosis?
A. Yeah. You know, that’s one thing about Araceli.
When she gets that time off, she likes to go out and use
that time. So we usually try to do things with the kids
and get out and move around a little bit, since they
d o n ’t have a lot of traveling free time with all the
schooling and everything. So yeah.
Q. Do you still get to do that a lot? I mean, go
out? Is there a lot of time off that your wife has where
you can go do those things?
A. Every once in a while, depending on how I ’m
feeling and everything and how everything works out.
Q. Have you been feeling better as of late?
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A. Yeah. I had a round of chemotherapy -- I don't
remember the exact medication that they gave me. But the
last round they gave me, I had a really good response.
But the round before that, they gave me something that I
didn't have a good response to. So I'm still recovering
from that stuff. But the second round of chemo that they
gave me did a lot for the lesions and the scars and the
things, but -- yeah.
Q. When was that, the last time you had that
chemotherapy that you mentioned?
A. I don't know exactly, but I'm thinking it's
about at least five or six months ago.
Q. We've heard a lot about your skin condition.
How is it now? I mean, do you have any areas that are
bothersome?
A. Yes. I still have some areas that are
bothersome. I even have a few things that, sort of,
look, sort of, like, sort of, some of the stuff that I
saw in the pictures. But the pictures are definitely way
worse than anything that I have right now.
Q. So now you're doing okay? Relatively okay?
A. I wouldn't call it okay. I would call it that
I've learned how to tolerate what I'm dealing with.
Q. Are there any painful areas you have, as you sit
here today?
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A. Yeah. I call them stingers. And those are
things that if fabric touches it or -- if you were to
physically look at it, you could tell why I call it a
stinger.
Q. And w e ’ll talk more about, you know, your health
condition and the progression of that. You mentioned,
you know, things that you used to do and now you can
still do it, because you’re -- you know, can tolerate it.
Was there a time that you weren’t able to go out and do
things with your family?
A. Yes. There were plenty of times where I
couldn’t go out and do anything at all.
Q. Before your diagnosis, were you able to go play
sports with the kids?
A. Yeah. I could do anything I wanted to do before
the diagnosis, yes. Play sports, everything. Yeah,
anything.
Q. And did that ever change after -- after your
diagno sis?
A. Oh, yeah. It changed dramatically.
Q. Before the diagnosis, Araceli was talking about
some of the things you used to do around the house. Can
you give us a little more detail? What would you do to
help out with — with the kids and just with the house?
A. I mean, Araceli probably doesn’t want to say it,
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but I do everything. If you do the -- if you do the
math, you have to know that I, you know, do a lot.
But, you know, she helped out a lot when I got
down, because no one else could do it. But, yeah, I used
to do a lot. I ’m just that type of person. You know
what I mean? From being a custodial background and all
that stuff, I w o n ’t live in squander or filth. It’s just
not going to happen, if I can do anything about it.
So I try to keep things really organized. And
that’s how my house is ran. You know, closets and things
are neat. We try to do things the right way and keep
things -- i t ’s called mise en place. I t ’s a French term.
It means everything has its place.
Q. I looked over, and I think Araceli may disagree
with that, but -
MR. DICKENS: Your Honor, before I go into the
next section, now -- is now a good time to take a break
for lunch?
THE COURT: Yes, that’s fine.
All right, Ladies and Gentlemen. W e ’re going to
break now for the lunch recess. W e ’ll be in recess, as
usual, until 1:30. Please remember do not discuss the
case with anyone. Please do not do any research on the
case. And w e ’ll resume again at 1:30.
(T ime Noted: 11:56 p.m.)
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r e p o r t e r ’s c e r t i f i c a t e
I certify that the proceedings in the
within-titled cause were taken at the time and place
herein named; that the proceedings were reported by
me, a duly Certified Shorthand Reporter of the State of
California authorized to administer oaths and
affirmations, and said proceedings were thereafter
transcribed into typewriting.
I further certify that I am not of counsel or
Attorney for either or any of the parties to said
Proceedings, not in any way interested in the outcome of
the cause named in said proceedings.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand:
July 2 3rd, 2 018.
<%signature%>Leslie Rockwood Rosas Certified Shorthand Reporter State of California Certificate N o . 3462
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